THE CHURCH AND COMMERCE, INDUSTRY, SCIENCES, AND ARTS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXV, Issue 44, 4 March 1898, Page 3

THE CHURCH AND COMMERCE, INDUSTRY, SCIENCES, AND ARTS.

(By the Rev. T. Le Menant des Chesnais, S.M.)

11. PRINTING.

Writing was known to man from the most ancient times. The Egyptians, in order to represent their ideas, made use of hieroglyphic characters, which expressed a series of thoughts by means of visible objects or emblems. The great Egyptologist, Champollion, who was a Catholic, has translated many of the most interesting hieroglyphs of the land of the Sphynx. The Assyrians were probably the first who invented alphabetical letters. The Assyrian characters were, in the course of time, adopted by other nations. The alphabet was introduced into Greece by Cadmus, son of Agenor, King of Phoenicia, and first founder of the famous city of Thebes, which dates from about 1500 B.C. Prom Greece the alphabet spread throughout Europe. The Chinese language is written in columns, and reads from top to bottom. The Hebrew and a few Eastern languages are written from right to left ; all other languages are written and read from left to right. Writing was unknown in America when it was first discovered. When the natives for the first time heard a book read, they imagined it was a deity, concealed in the paper, that was speaking. A curious anecdote is related of an Indian slave who was sent by bis master to carry a basket of fruit, with a letter, to one of his friends. The poor slave, while on his way, ate some of the fruit, and gave the rest, with the letter, to the person for whom they were intended. Having read the letter he noticed that some of the fruit mentioned in it were missing. He accused the slave of having eaten them, and, in order to convince him, he read out the letter to him. The poor negro was dumbfoundered with astonishment. " The paper is wicked, very wicked,'* he said, " to accuse me in this manner, and cause me to be punished,' 1 Some time afterwards he was sent again to another person with a basket of fruit. This time he was more cautious, and, in order not to be betrayed by the paper, he put the letter under a large stone whilst he was eating away at the fruit, thinking that, as the paper could not see him, it could not accuse him. The poor fellow was quite bewildered when he found out again that he was discovered, and received a severe punishment, on account of the mysterious paper which revealed the most secret things. For writing, the Egyptians used the bark of a tree called papyrus, which grew abundantly on the banks of the Nile, and from which our word " paper "is derived. The Romans used the pellicle of a tree called "liber," whence the French word "Here" is derived. Later on ( tablets covered with wax became fashionable, and were universally used by the elite of Roman society. The most beautiful speci. mens of prose and poetry have been thus written. When we speak of an eminent writer, we say that he has an elegant, charming, or attractive style — from the sharp-pointed style or stiletto, used by the Romans to write with upon the wax. In the seventh century parchment was introduced, and the wax tablets went out of fashion Parchment, as every one knows, is the skin of a sheep or goat* dressed and prepared for writing on. Vellum is a fine kind of parchment, made of calf's skin (in French, " veau ") and rendered smooth and white for writing on. We are much indebted to the Benedictine Monks for most of the masterpieces of ancient cali" graphy. These holy and learned men were employed in copying and illustrating curious books, and particularly the Holy Bible, which was everywhere the principal text-book. Many of the books were written on scrolls of parchment turne'l round a roller. A little tablet indicated the title of the book, and, sometimes, its contents. When any one wanted to consult it he pulled out the scroll, and when he had finished reading, ho made it revolve back to its former position. Valuable books were kept on tables, or standing desks. They were generally richly bound, with clasps of gold or silver, set with precious stones. One single volume was worth from a few hundred to a thousand pounds. It took, in certain cases, the whole life of a monk to illuminate one single copy of the Bible, for in those days there was no such thing- as printing. Paper came into use in the seventh century. Paper is made from rags, straw, grass, or wood fibre, cut in small pieces, boiled, cleaned, and pressed by machinery. Satin paper is made by pressing the best kind of pulp. Blotting paper is unsized and porous. Brown paper is made of canvas and sacking-. Pasteboard consists of many sheets of paper pressed tog-ether. It is said that the Chinese, the Japanese, and the Tartars knew the art of printing ages before it was discovered in Europe. The inventor of printing- from moveable types> was John Guttemburg-, of Mayence. He was born in 1400 of a noble family. He was a fervent Catholic, and led a most edifying life. A legal document, dated 1439, shows that Guttemburg was really the inventor of printing. Guttemburg- carved on wood the letters with which he wished to print. Peter Shoeffer, of Gersheim, a disciple of, Guttemburg-, and, like him, a Catholic, invented characters in " font," or melted metal, instead of the wooden letters of Guttemburg, and the invention of printing- was thus completed. Faustus, assistant of Peter Sohoeffer, shared with him the merit of

bringing the art of printing to its perfection. Guttemburg was buried in the church of the Franciscans, and a statue was raised in his honour in the midst of the principal square of Mayence. The first printed book wag a latin Bible {Jiiblia latino), published in 1450. The next was The Psalter of Mayence, published in 1457. It took eighteen months to complete it. Caxton brought printing to England. He was likewise a good Catholic. He set up his first printing press in Westminster Abbey, under the protection of the monks, particularly of the Abbot, who greatly encouraged him. This Abbot was the celebrated Thomas Milling, Bishop of Hereford, and Lord Abbot of Westminster, one of the most learned men of his age. The last work of Caxton was the publication of the Licet of the leathers of the Desert. Caxton died in 1401, and was buried in the old church of Saint Margaret. Who could believe that, although it was through the influence of the Catholic Church and of the monks, printing was invented, perfected and brought into England, English historians for the last three centuries, have represented the Catholic Church as antagonistic to science and opposed to the diffusion of the Bible ? Yet it Is an indubitable fact that the first Bibles ever printed, even in the ver. nacular language, where Catholic Bibles. In my next article I shall speak of clocks, watches, thermometers and barometers which are all the invention of Catholic brains and hands.